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My significant other has lost his/her mind!!! How many times have you said (or at least thought) these words? I recently had a case in which a party's mental status was a legitimate issue. In the course of my representation, I had to research the issues of Borderline Personality Disorder. I thought it might be helpful to share some basic information on this topic with you.The DSM-IV sets out the following diagnostic criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder:A pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment. (Note: Do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in Criterion 5);

a pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation;